May 2, 2014 2 min read

The House Consumer Affairs Committee on Thursday unanimously approved major changes to the way variable-rate electric plans are marketed and regulated in Pennsylvania, said state Rep. Peter J. Daley II, the Democratic committee chairman.

“The legislation overhauls the variable-rate electric plans and provides needed safeguards and changes to protect Pennsylvania ratepayers,” said Daley, D-California. Provisions of House Bill 2104 include:

• Prohibiting teaser rates of less than 60 days;

• Banning cancellation fees on variable-rate products;

• Forbidding the switching of a customer on an expired fixed-rate plan to a variable-rate plan;

• Specifying that variable rates for residential or small commercial customer may not increase more than 30 percent from the previous rate;

• Requiring clearer and more prominent information on rates, fees, formulas and terms in contracts and marketing material;

• Requiring electric distribution companies to switch a customer’s service once during a billing cycle within five days of the request; and

• Directing the state Public Utility Commission to publicize licensed electric generation companies, services available to shopping customers and information about customer complaints.

“The legislation is comprehensive in its scope and makes many of the needed changes to variable-rate plans whose rates skyrocketed this winter, leaving ratepayers battered and bruised,” Daley said.

Daley also credited the work and cooperation of the Republican chairman of the Consumer Affairs Committee, state Rep. Robert Godshall, for progress on the legislation.

The bill will now go to the full House.